Devices for distributing ink to printing machines



y 2, 1970 R. CARREL 3,511,180

DEVICES FOR DISTRIBUTING INK TO PRINTING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1968 United States Patent 3,511,180 DEVICES FOR DISTRIBUTING INK TO PRINTING MACHINES Ren Carrel, Lyon, France, assignor to Socit dEtudes et de Vente de Materiels pour la Fabrication et le Faconnage du Carton Ondule-Martin, St.-Priest, France,

a company of France Filed June 12, 1968, Ser. No. 736,484 Int. Cl. B41f 31/32 US. Cl. 101352 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention is concerned with ink distribution devices in printing machines and provides timing control systems for controlling contact of an ink receiving roller with an inking roller and with a chain of ink distributing rollers which feed ink to a printing roller.

The invention relates to improvements to devices for distributing ink to printing machines.

As a rule, ink-distributing devices comprise an inking roller, a chain of rollers for distributing the film of ink to a printing roller and evening out the ink thereon, and an ink-receiving roller which can be brought into contact alternately with the inking roller and then with the chain of distributing rollers to transfer the ink from the inking roller to the printing roller.

As a rule, the receiving roller is actuated by a cam controlled by the rotation of the printing roller, and the inking roller is rotated discontinuously by a pawl-andratchet device of variable travel, enabling the amount of ink transferred to be regulated.

The discontinuous rotation of the inking roller in devices of the kind specified has the disadvantage of not ensuring that the ink in the ink-container is constantly mixed. The ink needs to be permanently stirred up and mixed to ensure a satisfactory supply of ink, more particularly, in printing machines using thick ink.

Printing machines have therefore been proposed in which the inking roller is driven at constant speed, independently of the movement of the printing roller and the distributing chain. In that case, the movement of the receiving roller must be controlled on the one hand by a timing system controlling the amount of ink received, and on the other hand by a sheet-counting system which controls the duration of the whole cycle. The counting process is performed by a rather complex and delicate apparatus.

To obviate this disadvantage, the invention provides an ink-distributing device wherein the printing roller and the inking roller are driven in a constant speed ratio by the same kinematic chain, and the device for controlling the positions of the receiving roller is alternately piloted by a first timing system controlling the bringing of the receiving roller into contact with the inking roller for a regulatable ink-receiving time, and by a second timing system determining the duration of contact with the chain of distributing rollers during a regulatable ink-transferring time, the two timing systems being connected to one another.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, with reference to a particular exemplary embodiment thereof illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically the ink-distributing device and the mechanism controlling the positions of the receiving roller;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the operational cycle of the device as a function of time, and

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a variant of the operational cycle of the device as a function of time.

According to the invention, the device comprises an inking roller 1, a chain 2 of rollers for distributing and evening out the film of ink, a printing roller 3 and an inkreceiving roller 4 which can come into contact alternately with the inking roller 1 to take ink therefrom, and then into contact with the first roller 5 of the distributing chain 2 to supply ink thereto.

To this end, the receiving roller 4 pivots on a mobile support 6 articulated around a pivot 7 and actuated, for instance, by a double-acting jack 8 fed by a hydraulic pump 9 via a distributor which is piloted by two timing systems 11, 12. The sheet 13 to be printed is applied to the printing roller 3 by a counter roller 14. A kinematic chain 15, shown diagrammatically in chain-dot lines representing a system of two pulleys and a transmission chain, drives the printing roller 3 and the inking roller 1 in a constant speed ratio.

In the instance diagrammatically illustrated in the graph (FIG. 2), the device operates as follows: when the distributor 10 is in the position shown in FIG. 1, the receiving roller 4 is applied against the roller 5 by the action of the jack 8 for a time T measured by the timing system 12. At the end of the time T which corresponds to the instant a on the graph (FIG. 2), the timing system 12 brings the timing system 11 into operation and at the same time delivers a signal to the control of the distributor 10, thus reversing the latter. The roller 4 is then applied against the roller 12 for a time t measured by the timing system 11. At the end of the time t which corresponds to the instant b (FIG. 2), the timing system 11 brings the timing system 12 into operation and at the same time delivers a signal to the control of the distributor 10, thus reversing the latter. The receiving roller 4 comes into contact with the roller 5, and the cycle starts all over again.

The speeds of the inking roller and the printing roller are always bound up with one another in a predetermined ratio. Consequently when the speed of the printing roller has increased, the amount of ink taken by the receiving roller from the inking roller increases proportionally, so as to maintain regular inking. For instance, if the speed of the machine doubles, twice the number of sheets pass per unit of time, but the surface of the receiving roller brought into contact with the inking roller during the inkreceiving time, and therefore the amount of ink received, will also have doubled, and the amount of ink deposited on each sheet will remain constant. This amount of ink can be controlled by varying either the ink-receiving time, or the transfer time, since the times t and T are measured independently by the timing systems 11, 12.

On the one hand, therefore, the arnount of ink taken at each cycle by the receiving roller 4 from the inking roller 1 can be modified by regulating the timing system 11, and on the other hand the frequency of the transfer of a particular amount of ink to the ink-distributing chain can be changed by regulating the timing system 12.

The roller 5 is fed discontinuously, but the ink is distributed by the successive rollers in the ink-distributing chain, so that the printing roller 3 is therefore fed regularly during the time 2 +t by the amount of ink taken during the time 2 As a rule, the timing system 12 is regulated in advance, and the operative can take action on the timing system 11, and thus modifythe ink-receiving time t The total duration of the cycle T +t is therefore modified when the ink-receiving time t is increased or diminished.

Alternatively, a device can be used which operates as shown in the other graph (FIG. 3). In a device of this kind the distributor 10 is inoperative in the position illustrated in FIG. 1, the roller 4 being in contact with the roller 5. At the end of the time T the timing system 12 is reset to zero, immediately re-starts the measurement of the time T and at the same time brings into operation the timing system 11 which delivers a signal to the control of the distributor 10, thus reversing the latter. The distributor 10 remains in that position until the end of the time 1 The system 11 then ceases to operate and the distributor 10 returns to its starting position, the roller 4 thus coming back into contact with the roller 5 until the end of the time T The cycle can then start all over again. Clearly, in a device of this kind the ink-receiving time t can be modified without changing the total duration of the cycle T Of course, the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment and variant thereof which have been described hereinbefore. The timing systems can operate by counting pulses of constant frequencies for instance, by counting the alternations of an alternating electricity distributing network. Pneumatic timing systems, timing mechanisms, or any other system can be used which is capable of measuring a time of regulatable duration and delivering control signals to devices for controlling the positions of the ink-receiving roller. The ink-receiving roller itself can be actuated by a mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or electric control, or by any other means capable of giving the inking roller a movement alternating between two positions.

I claim:

1. A device for distributing ink to a printing machine, comprising an inking roller, a chain of rollers for distributing the film of ink to a printing roller and evening out the ink thereon, a receiving roller whch can be brought into contact alternately with the inking roller and then with the chain of distributing rollers, and a device for controlling the positions of the receiving roller, characterised in that the printing roller and the inking roller are driven in a constant speed ratio by the same kinematic chain, and the device for controlling the positions of the receiving roller is alternately piloted by a first timing system controlling the bringing of the receiving roller into contact with the inking roller for a regulatable ink receiving time, and by a second timing system determining the duration of contact with the chain of distributing rollers during a regulatable ink-transferring time, the two timing systems being \connected to one another.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1, characterised in that the two timing systems control successively their measurements of time and their respective actions, the completion of one measurement controlling the start of the other measurement.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1, characterised in that the two timing systems start the time measurements simultaneously at the origin of each cycle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,986,088 5/1961 Chase et a1 101-350 3,095,810 7/1963 Harris 10I351 3,274,932 9/1966 Caza 101-351 3,412,677 11/1968 Kantor 101-349 X ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner A. E. KOPECKI, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 340223 

